Iran amps up its enrichment

Saturday

Aug 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2008 at 12:27 PM

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran has increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium-enrichment plant to 4,000, a top official said yesterday, pushing ahead with the nuclear program despite threats of new U.N. sanctions.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran has increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium-enrichment plant to 4,000, a top official said yesterday, pushing ahead with the nuclear program despite threats of new U.N. sanctions.

The number was up from the 3,000 centrifuges Iran announced in November that it was operating at its plant in the central city of Natanz. However, it is well below the 6,000 it said last year that it would operate by summer 2008, suggesting the program might be behind schedule.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, who visited Natanz last week, said yesterday that Iran is preparing to install even more centrifuges, although he did not offer a timeframe.

The U.N. already has imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to freeze its enrichment program, which can be used to produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material needed for a nuclear warhead.

The United States and its allies are likely to press the U.N. this year for more sanctions after Iran did not accept a package of economic and technological incentives in return for suspending enrichment. They could face strong resistance from Russia after this month's crisis in Georgia deeply damaged ties between Washington and Moscow.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested that his country's cooperation with the West on the Iran issue could be hurt by the Georgia tensions.

Asked whether Moscow might stop cooperation if it comes under increased pressure over Georgia, he said Russia is "working very consistently and diligently with its partners" on the Iran issue.

But "if nobody wants to talk with us on these issues and cooperation with Russia is not needed, then for God's sake, do it yourselves," he said.